A Lover's Tale
by Johanna the Sponge
Summary: What happens when Rafiki and Simba send Vitani to an unknown jungle for an unknown reason? Who will she find? Will it be the love of her life? Will he return to the Pride with her? Will Simba and Nala and the other lions accept him? Co-Written by Kopa98.
1. The Jungle Reunion

A Lover's Tale-Chapter 1, The Jungle Reunion

I stepped over a small, crystal clear puddle of fresh rain. It smelled nice, very sweet. It didn't rain that much back at home in the Pridelands, but here in the jungle, it was almost everyday, soaking wet.

I was surrounded by green. Green trees, green grass, green moss on the tree trunks, even some weird, green birds. It was great here, everything clean and alive, so very different from my home. I liked it, the green, the rain, and the thought of how easy relaxation came to you here. I still loved the Pridelands more than anything, but it was like a second home here. It was nearly like Heaven.

I was only here because the King of the Pridelands, Simba, had sent me. He said that he didn't know why I needed to go here, but that he had had a dream telling him to send me to the jungle. He also said that as soon as he awake from the dream, Raffiki the baboon had actually been waiting at Pride Rock to speak to Simba. He said that Raffiki told him to send me to the for unknown reasons. All Raffiki could tell Simba was that it would be a trip that would change all of our lives, and that it would absolutely _have _to be me.

So I left.

I didn't even know which way the lush jungle was, I just said out that morning after Simba told me. I walked for at least two days until I found the first jungle. I could tell from Simba's stories that this had been the place he was raised. I stayed in the jungle for three days, waiting for something, anything. But nothing came. So slowly I kept walking, until I was surrounded by another savanna much like the Pridelands. I never even imagined this place existed.

After days of walking through the unfamiliar heat, I found yet another jungle. This time I walked as slow as I could, looking for signs of anything, but not taking the time to stay. I was out of it in a matter of hours.

And back into another savanna, though this one was more dead. It reminded me too much of the Outlands, where I was unfortuanately raised. This horride place took me four days to walk through, only because I was still looking for unknown signs. I knew if I turned around any time soon, I would make it home in two days, if I kept up a normal pace. But going where I was going, I was taking long.

And so the day before now, I arrived in this perfect, beautiful forest. I listened to the quiet rush of a distant waterfall, the soft songs of the tropical birds, and the tiny crackling noise of dirt under my feet. By now, I was exhausted. I found a small place underneath a short tree and cuddled with myself, finally falling into a deep sleep.

"Psst! Hey! Hey, wake up, you!" I heard faintly. I didn't want to wake up, everything was so peaceful! I loved it. I just wanted to stay asleep forever.

Finally, i got sick of the annoyin voice attempting to wake me up, and the new nudging in my side. I knew that someone was actually pushing me to get up.

My eyes flickered open and looked up to where they stared into a pair of soft brown eyes. When our eyes broke, I stared over the rest of the eyes' body to see that it was yet another lion (As I had guessed from the feeling of his paw) with a dark golden pelt with a brown mane of hair. He had a cute little smile, showing his sparkling teeth, and he had large clumsy paws, though he had a good balance from what I oculd tell. He was very muscular, strong, tall, and purely beautiful. And yet, he looked quit familiar...

"Finally woke up!" he said enthusiastically. "Thought you were dead! No, I'm kidding, I saw you breathing. So are you okay?" He looked concerned after I looked him over about five times silently. Then finally, I got it.

"Kopa?" I said so quietly I wasn't sure he could even hear me. My voice shook, and was full of sadness. It was mixed with happiness though, when I realized...

"Kopa?" I repeated louder, and I jumped up, beaming. "KOPA!" I screamed, and burst forward, placing my front paws hard on his shoulder and intwining my neck with his.

"Umm, er, uh, do I know you?" he asked in an equally shaky voice. I jumped down, my smile fading. I looked him deep in the eyes, mine full of sudden sadness again, and closed my mouth for a second.

"Yes, Kopa, it's me! Vitnai," I whipered to him.

"V-Vitani? Who're..."

"Your best friend, Kopa! Don't you remember the Pridelands? And when we were cubs?" I asked. Wait, what if this wasn't Kopa? No, it had to be...

"Vitani?" he said in sudden realization, his eyes widening, his jaw hanging open.

"Yeah, yeah, Vitani!" I said to him, beaming again. He fung his body onto mine in a giant hug, and we laughed loudly. Then he got up.

"Vitani, you don't know how much I've missed you! And everyone else, but mainly you! Your're my best friend, Vitani, I just could hardly stand running away, leaving you behind-"

"Wait, you...you ran away?" I said. He looked as if he wished he wouldn't have mentioned that at all. "Why?"

"Well," he started warrily. "I was told to. A horrible, mean lioness told me to leave. She said if I didn't that I would be killed, I had done terrible things and if I went back, everyone would kill me."

"First, what were those 'terrible' things?" I asked.

"The last day I was there, remember I gave you that bad cut on your shoulder when we were playing? That was it..." he said sadly. "I'm sorry..."

I turned my head and focussed my eyes on my large shoulder to see a small tuft of fur upturned where the hair had never grown back right on that huge cut on it from Kopa. "It's okay. But who...who told you?" I whispered the last part of the sentence.

"She was cruel. Her name was Zira," said Kopa with a shudder.

"I...I know her. She's my mother," I said, looking down. "Why didn't you come back?" I asked before he could start with awkward appologies.

"Well, I knew Zira was strong, and that she could gather many followers. I couldn't go back to that, could I?" he said.

"Well, she's dead now, you can come back!" I said excitedly.

"Well, it's like home here..."

"You know, you sound just like your father. That's exactly what happened to Simba! Please, you rightfully belong there!" I said.

"Vitani, are you absolutely sure Zira is gone?" he asked seriously.

"Yes, Kiara saw her die."

"Kiara?" he asked, puzzled.

I gasped.

"Oh, Kopa, you never knew her!" I shouted.

"Who?" he said.

"Well, see, Kiara's your sister," I told him.

"I, I have a little sister?" he stuttered at me.

"Yeah, you do, Kopa!"

"Well, she can't go all her life without meeting her older brother then, can she? Let's go!" He yelled. I shouted with pleasure and we made our way out of the lush jungle, barely looking back.

"So what's she like?" he asked, and I could tell I'd have to fill him in on every second of our lives that we lived without this cuious lion, and laughed to myself.

**Author's Note: Hello everyone! This is a new story that Kopa98 and I decided to write. We decided to do this because Vitani is my favorite character, Kopa is his, and together we thought we could create a good romance/adventure story. I hope everyone enjoys, please review soon! :D**


	2. Stranger

A Lover's Tale-Chapter 2, Stranger

Ch. 2 Stranger  
>Wow! After all this time of being alone, I had found my best friend in the whole entire world! I remembered how we used to play tag with each other and jump down from trees. I just woke up one day, started my usual hunting for the local antelope, and there she was. Laying down sound asleep next to one of my favorite sleeping spots. At first I didn't recognize her, but at first I did smell something familiar in the air. She awoke and almost recognized me immediately.<p>

Then she told me who she was and a lightbulb came on. I was filled with joy at meeting my long lost friend. Vitani told me that I had to come back to the pridelands. I knew that I shouldn't because they were going to kill me. I told her that and she said it was all a lie by her mother Zira who was dead. Then came something that totally caught me off guard. She said I had a sister named Kiara. I wanted to see my sister so bad! My parents probably thought I was dead so I was a little scared about coming back. But I wanted to make Vitani happy and see my family again, so I went.

We had talked for a while. It was getting so close to night time, you could see the great kings of the past up there.  
>"And she has a beautiful golden yellow coat! Just like yours Kopa!" Vitani explained excitedly.<br>I smiled as my oversized paws crushed the mud underneath me. My body felt so energetic. I wanted to ask Vitani so many questions about the Pridelands and how my family was doing.

Vitani was almost as energetic or even more than I was.  
>"How are my parents doing?" I asked.<br>"Your parents are very happy. Now that the two prides have come together as one," She continued to answer my questions.  
>"What do you mean? What other pride?" I asked.<br>"When you were gone your parents thought Zira killed you, so they banished her and her followers to the outlands."  
>"Wait a second, Zira is your mother, so doesn't that mean…" I was interrupted by Vitani.<br>"Yes Kopa, I went with her. Me and her other cubs, that should explain why I'm still so skinny," she frowned and peered down, saddened.  
>"I'm sorry Vitani, I didn't mean to hurt you," I peered down at her skinny body.<br>"I hadn't noticed till you said something about it," I tried to help.  
>"Thanks anyway," she mumbled as she strolled on the jungle plants.<br>"Speaking of your siblings, how is Nuka?" I asked, hoping for news on an older friend of mine.  
>Vitani didn't speak. I took that cue as to something bad had happened.<br>"Life out here has been very difficult," I spoke, trying to change the subject.  
>"It has?" Vitani gave me a worried look. It looked like she had moved on from me asking about Nuka.<br>"Yes, the jungle I have been living in was a scary place for me as a cub. Constant chirping of crickets and the laughter of hyenas always played throughout the night. I eventually got used to it."  
>"What did you eat?" She asked curiously.<br>"Well, I couldn't hunt. The only thing I had to go on was my parents pouncing lessons. That was nothing so instead I decided to eat bugs like Timon and Pumbaa taught me," I explained.  
>"Ew!" Vitani shivered imagining such a thing.<br>"Hey relax Vitani. They really don't taste too bad. Come here!" I walked over to a bush and picked up some bugs with my big paw.  
>I saw Vitani roll her eyes and she strolled over to my position very annoyed.<br>"You gotta try some!" I gobbled down some delicious bugs as I handed a couple to Vitani.  
>She looked at them once and immediately dropped them.<br>"There is no way I'm eating that," She said distgustingly.  
>"Alright, suit yourself," I said as I gobbled down what was in her hand.<br>"Hey look at that!" Vitani was staring at the tree I was standing by.  
>"Huh?" I looked and saw there was something carved into the tree.<br>Carved in the tree was a heart. The heart was about the size of my paw. Inside the heart was two words. It read Simba + Nala.  
>I was amazed. Right here was where my parents fell in love. A relationship that would create me and my sister. It would also save the pridelands from ever becoming a place where animals couldn't live in harmony.<br>I dreamed of a time he could do that with Vitani. I loved her. I didn't know if she loved me. I didn't know how she could. It was because of me that she had to spend her childhood in a horrible wasteland. This was a romantic spot however. Why not spend the night here?  
>"Vitani, do you want to spend the night here? It's getting awful late," I prayed she would say yes.<br>"Under this tree?" she asked as if she was confused.  
>"Oh No! Just you know, anywhere around this area," I fumbled with my words.<br>"Okay sure," she answered nonchalantly.  
>It didn't mean much to her but it meant a lot to me. It was quite obvious by the way she was acting she didn't consider me a boyfriend. I had a start though.<br>We both lay down on the soft grass as we looked around our enviorment. We shifted around a bit, hoping to find a comfortable spot. After we were ready, we wished each other good night and started sleeping.

**Later that night…**  
>I woke up in the middle of the night. My body was in a different position than what I originally went to sleep in. I noticed Vitani still sleeping next to me. She was smiling in her sleep. Vitani looked so peaceful. I smiled as I moved around to go back to sleep. Then I heard a noise. It was a strange ticking noise. It slowly started to get faster. My blood level was rising as I stayed lying down like I was asleep. Then the tick stopped for a second. Then I heard a different noise. It was a hissing sound. Like a snake. It slowly got louder like the ticking noise but was much louder. I peeked one eye open. In the night I could see a purple and black snake right on top of Vitani! I jumped immediately into action, grabbing the snake with my paw and pinning it against the tree.<br>"What are you doing?" I yelled at it.  
>"Ugh Kopa, what's going on?" Vitani started to get up.<br>The snake hissed at me and slithered through my paw up into the tree. I tried to stop it but it kept slipping through my grasp.  
>Vitani was wide awake now. She asked me "Kopa! What happened?"<br>I wasn't going to lie to her. She could see right through a person's lie.  
>"A snake was going to attack you. I saved you from it," Oh I shouldn't have said that. It sounded like I was bragging.<br>"Oh Kopa, you saved me," she smiled as she came up next to me and nuzzled me under my mane.  
>Maybe I did have a chance.<p>

**A.N. Please Review!**


	3. Pride

A Lover's Tale-Chapter 3, Pride

"Thank you for saving me from that snake," I whispered to Kopa for the thousandth time.  
>"Your're welcome," he sighed, though not in a mad or annoyed way. I really was thankful towards him for tearing the snake from my back the previous night as we slept under the tree that his parents had fallen in love. It was scary, but with Kopa, I seemed to be calmed. I wondered if Kopa could control emotions and feelings...<br>Wondering this certain question made me wonder something else too, something I didn't want to ask him about. Anyway, I was Vitani, I was strong and tough, of course I didn't let a bit of emotional anything ever escape me. I could not be defeated, not even by something as strong as emotion.  
>Yet, I still wondered if Kopa loved me.<br>Yes, I was in love with Kopa, in love with him more than I could ever explain. It was like a certain burning inside of me, something that wanted to burst from my heart, from my chest. I guessed this was what true love felt like. It physically tried to burst from my chest, I could feel it. I couldn't look at him, at his perfect coat, at his overlarge paws, at those soft, brown eyes without getting a small dizziness causing me not to see straight, causing my eyes to blur a little, and causing me to nearly fall over...  
>But as I said, I couldn't let him see. I didn't want him to think of me as a weirdo creeper staring at him and tripping over things in the process, like I had already done once. All I could do was wonder about it. I hoped Kopa couldn't read minds as well.<br>"So tell me again about Rafiki!" yelled Kopa with a sudden burst of excitement.  
>"Well, he's a bit crazy to tell the truth, but he is in close contact with your grandfather, Mufasa, and he usually has a pretty good point. He bouces around all the time, which freaks me out a little, because I feel like I should be the only one with those sudden bursts of movements. Oh, and he has a blue butt. Everyone makes jokes about it. Behind his back of course!" And I burst into hysterical laughter.<br>"Get it? Huh? Behind his back? Blue butt...behind his back? Ahahaha!" I laughed, and Kopa looked at me like I was a lost cause. I could not be helped. Even though I thought my cheesy jokes were pretty good sometimes.  
>My laughter ceased and I came to a sudden halt in my tracks. I hadn't even realized where we were for the last half a day, even though it was the place I had grown up in. We had left the special love tree early that morning, and set out at a quick pace. I was shocked to have found someone with such a quick pace as mine, someone who wasn't exactly in a hurry, it just came natural to move so quickly and have a nice, calm conversation at the same time.<br>We had just made our way through the burned-to-a-crisp Outlands where I had been brought up with my mother, Zira. I should have recongnized the familiar crisp, crunchy sounds of my paws hitting the very dry grounds, and the light muffles of paw-and-ground-contact of the extra dusty areas. Was this love, I asked myself again.  
>And what if Kopa didn't love me back? What if he chose another lioness once we got back to Pride Rock? Would I be in this love trap forever? Forever envying the other lioness that he hung around with and loved, watching Kopa's every movement, hoping he'd notice me for once? My heart pounding and trying to escape my chest every time he passed me? I tried not hope for the worst.<br>And here we were, standing on top of a great Outland cliff, overlooking the beautiful Pridelands absorbed in a great red and gold sunset with a twinge of purple. The antelope and zebra and giraffes grazing the stretch of savanna and Pride Rock in the far distance gleaming in the setting sun. I hated the thought that every day had to come to an end, how I (and everyone else) was coming closer to an end, how it would never be this day again and that every second that ticked by would never acure again. That they were all theirselves, the seconds and hours and days.  
>"Wow," breathed Kopa beside me and I just remembered he was there. Kopa, the most beautiful thing other than the Pridelands that I appreciated so much.<br>And I realized that he had to appreciate it more than I, having been gone since his own cubhood, how he never got to grow up in the Pride, with other lions, others of his own kind. Like Simba. And I saw how the memories flashed through his mind. I could see him seeing us play together near the watering hole, seeing him take a reluctant bath from Nala, struggling to get away with fear of his mane becoming messed up, seeing his father take him up to the very tip top of Pride Rock and around the savanna explaining to him that everyone's time sets here and that he would rule the whole land one day soon...I was actually saddening in a way, but joyous too that he would finally return!  
>Suddenly I felt myself get knocked into the ground by a pair of large and clumsy paws. I 'hmmfed' in surprise.<br>"Race ya'!" Kopa shouted, already at the bottom of the cliff and speeding across the savanna.  
>"In your dreams, my dear." I muttered to myself and sped after him. I caught him quickly, and I could tell that he seriously wasn't trying to be a gentleman as he tried to beat me, the great Vitani! We soon passed the watering hole, our muscles bulging at our huge burst of speed. We both felt like we were flying.<br>And then we tumbled on top of each other as we reached the base of Pride Rock. Kopa and I sat up, looking at it's great mightiness for a moment, and he turned to me.  
>"Are you ready?" I asked him warily.<br>His voice shook a little bit. I could tell he was trying to be tough though, and I gave him credit.  
>"No." That was all he said and I led the way to the nearly dark cave of Pride Rock.<br>"Vitani!" I heard Kiara's voice scream from the darkness within the cave and saw her bound up and tackle me. She was so hyper sometimes, I was glad to have her as a best friend. I saw out of the corner of my eye, Kopa back up into the shadows and mutter the single word, "Eccentric."

Kovu emerged too, and came up to nuzzle me as well. I had missed my brother almost as much as Kiara.

But then Kovu backed from me with a confused face.

"What is that scent all over you?" he asked warily.

"Umm..." I said. I nodded in Kopa's direction.

And without warning, Kovu sprung on top of Kopa, throwing him to the ground. I screamed, scared that Kovu was about to severely injure Kopa, but Kopa surprised me. He (Somehow) sprung back up from underneath Kovu, and knocked Kovu to the ground in return. Kovu was strong too, though, and lifted his paw to clout Kopa over the head. Kopa snarled at him and did the same.  
>At that moment, Simba and Nala emerged from the cave, and Kopa pounced off of Kovu and into the shadows. Simba roared at him, Kovu got up, and Nala started forward to everyone's shock, up to Kopa.<br>"K-Kopa?" she asked in a very small voice, the exact same as I did. He nodded once, shakily.  
>Simba looked him over too. But there seemed to be no recognition on his face, only...anger?<br>"Who are you?" he growled at a now whimpering Kopa.  
>"K-K-Kopa!" he stuttered.<br>"What?" Simba was utterly confused, I could tell.  
>"Um."<br>"Simba," I whispered. "It's Kopa. Your son."  
>Simba seemed to take this in consideration. Then-<br>"No your're not."  
>"Simba!" said an outraged Nala at her husband. "He is so!"<br>"No, no he most defiantly is not!" shouted Simba at her. "I would know my own son, Nala!"  
>"Um, yes Simba, so would I! I in fact gave birth to this child, he is ours, I know it!" She seemed close to tears now at her husband's stuborness.<br>"I am King, Nala! Listen to me!" He shouted. I couldn't believe my ears. Why was Simba being like this anyway?  
>"So where did you come from, filfth?" he spit at Kopa. Kopa was also close to tears, cowering into a rock behind him. "Come to try and take over, attack a few of our males, did you?"<br>"Simba, where did you come up with the brilliant idea that our son was a filfth?" said Nala. But Simba ignored her.  
>"He is not our son! And I asked you a question!" he said, turning back to Kopa.<br>I butted in.  
>"Simba, this is obviously why I was sent to the jungle, is it not? I found him, he's here, he's back!" I said, smiling as I tried to make him understand.<br>"No, I refuse to believe it!" he said. This was very strange...  
>Nala went over to Kopa and kind of relieved his scared posture.<br>"Kopa, look me in the eyes." He did. "Are you Kopa, or are you not?" she asked very seriously, spacing out her words very precisely even.  
>"Yes, mom, I am, please believe me," he said quietly.<br>She nuzzled him, and he smiled softly. Simba roared at them.  
>"You, the so-called 'Kopa'! Get out. You are banished from the Pridelands for trying to kill Kovu! OUT" yelled Simba.<p>

No one could believe their ears. Kopa's jaw actually dropped open. After the moment of shocking silence, Simba roared again, Kopa scrambled down the rocks, Nala began to cry, and I raced down after Kopa.

Why didn't my brother tell the truth that he had attacked Kopa? Why didn't Kiara ask her usually, abserd questions? Why didn't Nala stop Simba with her power? Why didn't stand up for himself? Why didn't _I_ didn't do something?

He stopped at the base and I crashed into him.

"Kopa, Kopa, please, no!" I said.

"Vitani, I don't belong here, I shouldn't have come back. My dad doesn't remember me-"

"Kopa, don't go all the way back. Just stay there a while-"

Simba roared louder. Kopa started to run again, but I stopped him.

"Kopa, I love you."

"I love you too," he whispered and dissapeared into the darkness. Tears started rolling down my face as I went back up the rocks. I looked at Simba's mad face in disgust, and scrambled into the cave. Kiara followed me.

We settled down near the back of the cave where we usually slept near each other so we could talk at night. She snuggled close to me, alomost cradling me in a way. I wondered where Kopa was now.

"It's alright, Vitani," whispered Kiara in my ear.

"No it's not," I said causing a few more tears. "This won't ever be okay." I love him.

**Author's Note: I feel bad for Vitani and Kopa now! :( I would just like to say that I think of Kiara with the same personality as Alice Cullen. (Twilight) I hope you now have a little better idea of how she will be in this story, now. Please review! :)**


	4. Retribution

A.N: The Lion King 3d is out! I'm so excited! Go see it and enjoy. I loved it.  
>I had never seen it in theatres before and it was a cool experience. Did<br>anyone else see it? Please let me know how you thought of it. Here is chapter 

A Lover's Tale-Chapter 4, Retribution 

"I can't believe he did that to me!" Kopa thought as he hit the ground hard  
>with his paw. His father had just banished him like that! That brown lion was<br>the one who attacked me. These thoughts were racing my mind. Kopa's sadness  
>had turned to anger about how his father and that brown lion had… attacked<br>him! Before Vitani came to him he had been lonely for what seemed an eternity.  
>Why now did everything go wrong? Kopa couldn't figure why that lion had<br>attacked him.  
>Back at Pride Rock…<br>"Who was that daddy?" Kiara asked with concern as Nala, Kovu, Vitani , and  
>TImon and Pumbaa hurried up Pride Rock after a scowling Simba.<br>"Why did you treat your our own son like that?" Nala yelled to Simba.  
>"Who is our son?" Kiara asked Dad again.<br>"Yea, who was that rogue who touched my sister?" Kovu was a little angry as  
>well.<br>"Kovu, I told you I know him!" Vitani was furious, more than anyone else.  
>"Enough with the questions! I will answer them one at a time. And Nala, I<br>don't want to hear it anymore. You know he is gone," Simba finally turned  
>around. Nala wasn't finished yet.<br>"Simba, couldn't you see the similarities between you and him?" Nala asked,  
>trying to find something to agree on.<br>"Nala…"  
>"You both had the same golden coat, the same eyes, the same…"<br>"Nala, just because he might have some of the same similarities doesn't mean  
>that he is our son. He just attacked Kovu! Future heir to this throne! What do<br>you think I'm supposed to do?" Simba defended Kovu.

"Well you obviously don't know what your talking about," Kiara spoke.  
>"Excuse me?" Simba said.<br>"Kovu attacked him," Kiara said. Kovu was surprised Kiara would accuse her.  
>"Well yea! He touched Vitani!" Kovu said.<br>"So Simba, you shouldn't have banished him, bring him back," Vitani begged,  
>hoping Simba would now change his mind.<br>"No. Even if he didn't attack Kovu, he still was a rogue," Simba spoke as if  
>he had finished.<br>"Father you still didn't answer my question. Who was he?" Kiara was getting  
>impatient.<br>"I don't know Kiara," Simba was getting annoyed now, laying on the ground.  
>Nala sat down, thinking to herself about what to do. Kovu sat close to Vitani,<br>but Vitani moved away farther from him.  
>"Well what about this brother I apparently have?" Kiara was always one for<br>curiousity. But this was a lot more serious.  
>"You tell her Nala. I'm going to retire to the den," Simba got up, but Nala<br>blocked his path.  
>"Your not going anywhere," She stared into his eyes.<br>Simba didn't say a word. He just sat angry on the floor, staring at the floor.  
>He was clearly not comfortable.<br>Everyone gathered in to hear Nala talk of her son. This was a serious matter.  
>Even for Vitani who knew Kopa almost as well if not more than his parents did<br>interesting.  
>Nala took a deep breath and began her story…<br>"The day right after your father took back the pridelands, I became pregnant  
>with Kopa. Two weeks later, after everything in the pridelands was in gorgeous<br>condition, we presented him to the kingdom. All of the animals were happy to  
>see him. He grew up a happy cub, Vitani can tell you more about who he was<br>away from us. I know he was very happy to be with us." Nala smiled, looking up  
>into the heavens.<br>"He had a golden yellow coat, just like Simba's. He also developed a strip of  
>mane along the top of his head. Unlike your father's it was brown. He was such<br>a cub. I loved him so. Your father does as well, even though he isn't showing  
>it," Nala gave Simba a dirty look. Simba rolled his eyes.<br>"One day Kopa said he was going to meet somebody at a cave. I asked him who  
>he was going to meet. He said that Zira wanted him to see something. I was a<br>little worried at first, but then I realized Kopa was good friends with her  
>daughter Vitani, so I thought it had something to do with her. A few couple<br>hours later, Zira came to our den and was carrying a dead cub in her mouth.  
>She wanted revenge on Simba for what he did to Scar. She just came right up to<br>us smiling. It was Kopa. Simba checked for signs of life. There was none. You  
>remember when we told you you'll one day understand why you couldn't turn your<br>back on the outsiders? This is why."  
>Simba jumped up and started talking.<br>"Our son was dead. We didn't want to see him because it made us so sad. Our  
>own son… dead. We gave it to Rafiki, we couldn't bear to see the body,"<br>Simba had tears come to his eyes.  
>Vitani was confused what to do. She knew the cub was Kopa, but she certainly<br>didn't want to make Simba mad.

"Simba, I need to speak with you," was all she said.

"Vitani, I do not want to hear-" started Simba.

"NOW! Please!" she shouted and he cringed. Nala lifted her eyebrows in a smug expression and motioned to a reluctant Kiara to come inside the cave behind her. Kovu followed quietly.

"Simba, you know that that was Kopa!" said Vitani, frowning at Simba hard.

"Vitani, I am King, and-"

"And as King, you should know how to inspect things further and not just bannish a lion first sight!" interupted Vitani. "You have made some pretty bad mistakes as King, and not as King, in the past, and you know it! You were stuborn and wouldn't return to Pride Rock, remember the 'no worries' thing? And then you bannished all the Outlanders first thing as _soon_ as Kopa vannished. Then, you judged Kovu and me wrongly when you should have seen that we were just innocent cubs in the beginning and bannishing us too. Finally, you exiled Kovu when you _assumed_ that it was he that helped set up attack on you when he was really in love with Kiara. You have a problem with seeing the truth, Simba! It's like you are so used to having to see signs now to prove the right things to do rather than see it yourself." Vitani took a breath and sat down, finnished. She was still frowning at the King.

And he just walked off into the cave as if she weren't even there, leaving her with her mouth hanging open.


	5. Rememberance

A Lover's Tale-Chapter 5, Rememberance and Depression

Simba paced back and forth the next morning next to the wall on the royal's raised platform where he and Nala slept. On the wall, close to the ground, were pawprints dating back ages. The first one was very dark and smudged, and Simba could tell that the owner of the huge paw had just found a way to record his pawprints on stone. Underneath the print was the name a the first King of the Pridelands. Then another pawprint followed, this one tiny as if the lion who recorded it here was only a half-year old. The line of prints drew across the whole platform wall. Simba read from a print labled Rayjani, to Kii, then Ahadi, then Mufasa, to Simba's tiny pawprint (He could even remember the day that he had pressed his foot into a small amount of waxy stuff Rafiki had prepared and then pressed it onto the wall there).

And finally he came to Kopa's tiny paw. His print was half the size of the smallest print on there. Kopa had been a tiny cub. Simba had loved his son with so much passion it was hardly barable. And when he had dissapeared, Simba almost fell apart.

It was true, what Vitani said. True that he had reacted immediatly and bannished the first lion in sight along with her family and friends. And that _was_ a stupid decision, seing as of now nice and different the Outlanders were today.

But whatever happened, Kopa was not coming back. Simba seemed to know in his heart (Or so he thought) that his beloved son was gone. It just could not be that he was back after being gone so long.

But Simba did not want to think about it anymore. His decision was final, that rogue was not coming back into the Pride. And nobody was going to change Simba's mind about it, either.

Vitani's shadow was long and stratched across the ground because of the moon's unusual largeness and brightness. She lifted her paws carfully and pressed them into the the dirt again quietly, heel to claw, the way Kovu had taught her.

She finally stopped being so quiet and careful and burst into speed when she eached the water-hole. Her muscles rippled underneath her skin and she thought of when she and Kopa had run full-speed to Pride Rock. After only a moment, she skidded to a halt at the edge of the Pridelands and Outlands territory.

She laid a paw across the boarder, and was imediately attcked by something large, knocked her sideways. She had been t-boned.

"Vitani!" said the voice of the attacker excitedly and the two stood, Vitani still in shock.

"Kopa!" she said after a second of realization, running up to nuzzle him. He did the same in return.

"I've missed you so much. It's so...nothing, out here," he whispered, his eyes almost watering. She looked at him with a sad face.

"I'm so sorry, Kopa. I know you _are_ Kopa, and so does Nala. She mopes now, and bites off Simba's head every time he tries to talk to her. That's why I had to sneak out to see you, I'm worried about Nala. She's so de_pressed,_" said Vitani in an anxious voice.

"What? She's depressed?" he said in shock. (He had not figured that Nala actually had stuck with her original thoughts about Kopa being her real son. He thought she would have followed Simba's lead thinking that Kopa was just a rogue.)

"Yes." That was all Vitani could muster, her throught was closing up in sadness and was on the verge of tears. She could not even imagine Nala being depressed, and she _could not_ think of what that could do to her...The Pride would not survive without Nala's happiness.

"But Vitani, what do you think I can do? I was _banned_!" said Kopa desperately.

"I know that!" spit Vitani at him, not meaning to be rude or mean. "Look, Kopa, she has to see you. She's gone so long thinking you were dead, and now that she knows you're actually alive but not with us were you rightfully belong, she can't bear it! At least that's the conclusion I've come to," said Vitani all very quickly.

"Well, what am I supposed to do then?" asked Kopa again.

"I'm going to bring her here," Vitani told him. It was all she could think of. If Nala couldn't see her own son, she would be doomed to depression forever, and it will have seemed Vitani and Kopa's fault. (Though it was stupid Simba's...)

"Okay," said Kopa suddenly, not only surprising Vitani, but himself, too. He had almost protested against it, but decided not. He wanted to see his mother, he wanted to get her better and happy again, he wanted...to do _something_ like this to somehow _prove_ to Simba that he was Kopa.

"Alright," said Vitani slowly. "How about tomorrow night?" she asked him, hoping for a yes. She was of course lucky, as she knew she would be.

"Sure. Let's do it."

**Author's Note: Hey everyone, we're backkkkk! Hope you liked the new chapter, and please review! Read on too! :D **


	6. Visiting

A Lover's Tale-Chapter 6, Visiting

Vitani had thought over her plans and deals with Kopa a little bit better on her long walk home to the Pridelands that night, and changed her mind several times. Finally she came to the conclusion that she was not going to wait until that next night to bring Nala to visit Kopa, the only way it would really work would be in the day.

She strode up quietly into Pride Rock's cave and was relieved that no one had missed her but had slept through her dissapearance. She layed down to get the remainder of rest she could get before she would be taking Nala out to the Outlands. She fell asleep quickly, tired from her long day and run that night, and awoke quickly at the sunlight pouring into the cave. She must have actually been gone a long time last night, and had only gotten about two hours of sleep. She groaned her very Vitani-ish groan and put her head to the ground, shutting her eyes tight. Then she remembered everything.

She looked around the cave frantically, hoping that Nala hadn't already left for the day or anything. Then she remembered that Nala didn't really like to leave anymore, she was too...well, she simply didn't have enough juice to keep her going. It had all disapeared when she realized that her son wasn't even really dead and that...well, he was out there, banished by his own father for no paticular reason at all.

Vitani stood when she saw Nala sitting where she always layed, on top of the little raised platform for the King and Queen to sleep on. She hurried quickly over to her and nudged her shoulder with her large paw.

"Come on Nala, you need to come with me today," she told her in a hushed and hurried raspy voice.

"Why, Vitani, what is it?" Nala had always had a good, well-earned trust for Vitani that had formed after the Outlanders were welcomed back into the Pride, and had become a little stronger after she had found Kopa and stood up for him. So why was she asking questions about it now?

"Just trust me Nala," she said to her, still whispering, and then in a lower tone, "Kopa."

Nala's eyes widened a little bit, but she contained her excitement. At least there was one thing she was good at. Remaining calm. Vitani thought how Nala would never loose this, she'd always be good at most things. She was very clever and strategic.

"Come on," Vitani said and gestured to the entrance of the cave with her head.

The two walked over to the entrance calmly and casually, just like any lion would, and when they had just turned the corner, saw Simba standing there. He looked at the suspiciously and cocked his head to the side, glaring at them both.

"Where are you two going?" he asked in his extremely suspicious, and now ruling voice to them.

"We're patrolling," spat Vitani angrily. She hadn't even thought about forgiving Simba yet, and probably never would until he let Kopa return to the Pride, which didn't look too sure. She had gained a certain disrespect for him that many lions didn't dare to have. But of course, that was just how Vitani was. "We still do that you know, to make sure any old Pride-members don't manage their way in."

Simba looked down on her in a shameful way, but didn't let it get to him, as angry as he could always get. He knew that no matter how he punished Vitani for speaking to him with such disrespect, it wouldn't make a difference, Vitani had a fierce and firey attitude and she always had. And always would. So no one ever tried to stop it.

"Fine. Go," he said and turned to walk off, leaving them behind. Vitani still couldn't believe that he was treating Nala this way too. His own wife, his best friend and consultant. It was like he was..._possessed_.

"Let's go," she muttered quietly to Nala, who was looking at the dusty ground, tears in her eyes. "Don't worry about it, alright?" she said and nidged her in the shoulder like Nala had done to her when she had just returned to the Pridelands. Nala looked up and smiled a little bit. "We'll start on the borders and make our way around so we don't look suspicious."

And the two lionesses did so, starting west of Pride Rock and making their ways to the border that ended there. Then they followed the border line North of Pride Rock where the Outlands began.

"What are we going to do about this, Vitani?" asked Nala suddenly during the time they had started to walk, resting from their running time. "About Kopa coming back?"

It was Vitani's turn to look at the ground and tear up a little bit.

"I don't know, Nala, I honestly don't," she told her quietly.

"Knowing you, we'll find a way," said Nala, smiling softly at her. "You're smart and have enough fire in you to go up against Simba. I used to be much better at that, but that was back when he actually listened to me."

"Thanks, Nala," said Vitani. "We'll just have to think it through," she said, hoping that her voice didn't crack.

The sun was high over their heads by now. The border from the West to the North strectched out farther than any of the other borders. Of course they just _had_ to take the long path..._Oh well, at least we made it around Simba in the first place,_ thought Vitani to herself.

Finally, the dust starting rising around each step the lionesses' paws took and twigs cracked noisily beneath them. They knew they were finally to the Outlands. Vitani turned her head and looked over her shoulder, glad to see that Pride Rock was extremely far behind them.

"Kopa!" Vitani called out loudly. "Kopa, I brought Nala early, come on, she wants to see you?"

"Kopa..." whispered Nala quietly, not trying to stop the tears any longer. "Kopa..." she said to herself, repeating the name over and over again, loving the sound of it, loving to say it and know that Kopa wasn't really dead after all.

The two lionesses looked all around the dusty Outlands for Kopa, realizing just head dead and dry everything here was. It was crazy how there were the Pridelands, so lush and plentiful, then a border where the rain just...stopped. Nothing grew here. It was so brown.

"Mom! MOM!" yelled a certain voice they had been looking for. Vitani glanced at Nala and saw the feelings inside her: she was filled with so much joy and happiness that she nearly could not stand on her paws anymore, and she swayed a little in the rare Outland breeze.

Then Vitani felt her own feelings. Her heart squeezed up tight at the sound of Kopa's voice and swayed as well. She wanted to run to him, to knock him over with her powerful force, and laugh with him, like they used to do. She realized how much she really did love him, and that she honestly couldn't have lived all of these years if Kopa had been alive too. She needed him like lions needed meat and water. He completed her in every way...her mind, her soul, her heart, and she could never stop trying her hardest to get him in the Pride again somehow. And if Simba wouldn't let his son return...the two would have to run away. But they had to be together, no matter what. That's what Vitani decided right then and there.

**Author's Note: Hola amigos! SORRRRRRRY for the LONG absence in this story, really honestly truely sorry! Reid and I are SO busy with school and such though, we hardly have time for anything anymore! (In fact, I haven't heard anything out of Reid in a while, but I know he's just busy) This summer should be a little easier for us to continue this story though, so if any of you think we've abandoned, we haven't, I swear! :D Hope you enjoyed this short chapter and PLEASE REVIEW!**

**OH YEAH! And to ****Sheriessdv****, like I said, we haven't given up on the story, so please continue reading! :D And I'm very glad you and others are liking it! (:**


	7. Hatching the Plot

A Lover's Tale-Chapter 7, Hatching the Plot

I was walking in the outlands, completely bored with nothing to do whatsoever. Kicking dirt aside, hitting termite mounds with the back of my paw, and watching the huge, destructive termites flow out of the mounds in large amounts. I would have simply returned to the isolated jungle that I had lived in before Vitani found me, but I just felt as if I needed to stay in the outlands so that I wouldn't let her down.

Of course, I also loved her to the deepest ends of the earth, but she also told me she would do everything possible to help convince Simba I was his son. However, I knew my father was one of the most stubborn lions the Pride had seen in a very long time. When things got heated in a situation despite what evidence you bring before him to prove your point, Simba would just growl at your point and stick to his stubborn ways.

I had almost given up all of the hope that remained within me, there was no way Vitani or my mother could possibly convince Simba that I was his son. What was the one thing that made Simba pay attention? What subject did he always value most? His father, Mufasa.

I remembered extremely well how Simba wanted to be just like his father, Mufasa. Mufasa was the lion that Simba had always valued most before he was brutally murdered by his own brother, my great-uncle, Scar. If Vitani was to get Simba's attention, she was going to have to mention Simba's legacy compared to his father's. (Which she was of course smart enough to figure out...not to mention the fact that Vitani didn't back down from anyone, including the King of the Pride)

Only that would only gain Simba's attention. I still needed an idea to prove how I was Simba's son. I needed to talk to Vitani now! I began running swiftly in the direction of Pride Rock, which could be seen from anywhere on the earth, it seemed like. I remember being a tiny cub and Simba taking me far beyond the borders of the Outlands and still being able to see the jagged points of the giant rock at which the lion's from my old Pride live's centered around. I smiled sadly as I ran at the vague memory.

All of a sudden, I heard a familiar voice calling my name. I whipped around towards the direction of the voice and approached it. Then I saw my mother, Nala.

"Mom! Mom!" I yelled excitedly. I ran, so happy to see my mother who was joined quickly by my true love, Vitani. She looked even more beautiful as every day passed...

I jogged to both of them, and I hugged my mother in a warm embrace. Vitani looked like she wanted to pounce on me or something. I couldn't help but laugh to myself.

"What's so funny?" Vitani asked after I hugged my mother, frowning with one eyebrow raised. She was such a demanding and bossy girl...and I was probably the only lion that found it absolutely perfect.

"Oh nothing, it's just… I'm so glad to see you again Vitani," I forced the words out of my mouth, being left embarrassed. Luckily, fur can't blush. I didn't think.

Vitani smiled back and her expression was warmed. "I'm glad to see you too."

Nala looked at both of us and smiled. "You two would look perfect under mine and

Simba's love tree," she said as Vitani and I looked at each other with wide

eyes.

"Mom! Well, we did sleep under your love tree...but onlu because it was pretty much the only tree out there...it was while Vitani and I were heading back from the jungle. It said "Simba + Nala"" I said, my words rushing together in a hurried embarrassment.

Nala's eyes widened even larger than mine and Vitani's. "You did? Oh how I wish I could have seen you two," she said as she smiled. I felt like the both of us, Vitani and I, wanted to die right there and escape the whole torment my mother was putting us through.

"Speaking of Simba, Mom, I know how we can grab Simba's attention. We need to mention his father, Mufasa, and speak of how he would be ashamed of him." I said this to both inform her of my plan and get her attention off that darned tree of hers.

"Oh dear! Don't do that. If you speak to him about Mufasa he'll do nothing but turn on you," Nala spoke, showing in her tone of voice she had experience on that matter.

"It eventually worked for you, Mom...but I don't have any better ideas. How about you Vitani?" I asked, getting desperate and anxious.

"I know!" Vitani shouted at the top of her lungs, causing us to stare at her. She didn't seem bothered. "Kopa, remember the monkey with the blue butt, Rafiki?" Vitani asked excitedly. That sounded so much like her...

A monkey with a blue butt? Why would she be talking about and noticing monkeys'…oh yeah!

"Yes I do remember him! But what does he have to do with Simba?" I asked, frowning.

"Remember how I said Raffiki was in close contact with Mufasa?" Vitani asked, getting more excited and loud by the moment.

"Yeah so what?" I asked, trying to clue in on her point.

"He could get Mufasa himself to talk to Simba, you igmo!" Vitani started jumping up and

down, getting more excited and calling me names by now for being slow.

"You're right Vitani! I told you you'd come up with something," Nala smiled gently at

her.

"Where does this strange monkey live? I can't quite remember," I asked. Vitani rolled her eyes.

"He lives in the southern pridelands in his acai tree," Nala said.

"Oh yeah, I heard stories from him when I was younger," I smiled, remembering

all the tales he told me.

"We should head over there and see if he can help us," my mother suggested.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Vitani grinned as she and I trotted playfully next to her with my mother watching us both.


End file.
